Evelyn
by EvelynHurts
Summary: This is a Fanfiction about Hurts( Adam Anderson and Theo Hutchcraft). It's about Theos love to Eveyln and Theo's and Adam's hopeless search for her.


Chapter I: The Lost Pogo Stick

Theo had been upset with something ever since they left Cologne to go to another city, another club, to play another show. Being constantly on tour was hard, Adam knew, but somehow Theo did not just seem stressed or tired; there was something different in the look on his face, something sadder and darker.

After the show, Theo seemed to have forgotten about whatever made him so sad, at least for a little while. But when Adam returned from the interview he did with a newspaper, he found Theo sitting on the couch, a bottle of Whiskey in his hands, just staring in the distance. He did this sometimes: drinking himself to oblivion, but most of the time it was on parties and he ended up with another pretty, dark haired girl in the hotel. The girls always left early the next morning and so did he.

Being in a band together, Adam and Theo knew quite a lot about each other but today Theo was just like a mystery to him.

"Alright, Theo, what's up? Tell me please, maybe I can help" Adam suggested carefully.

"No, leave me alone, I don't need your fucking help, unless you bring me Whiskey", was the response as Theo sprawled out completely over the couch and took another mouthful from the already nearly empty bottle.

"No more alcohol today for you, my friend" Adam told the drunk singer while he took the bottle away from him. "Now tell me, what was it that caused you to drink yourself half dead, not a woman, was it?"

"Give it back, asshole!" was the only thing Theo said before turning his face away and burying it in a cushion.

Adam could see that his attempt to talk to the drunken one would not bring him any further, so he decided it would be the best to just leave him alone and keep him away from any more alcohol; surely he would be okay tomorrow, except for a massive hangover. He was used to take care of Theo, it was okay for him.

A few hours later, while Adam was surfing in the internet in his own hotel room, he heard a knock on the door. Confused he went to open the door, only to find a completely messed up Theo standing there. His hair was the complete opposite to its usual strictly backcombed look, his face was red and his eyes were swollen from crying.

"Oh shit, Theo , what's wrong?" he asked in honest concern; after all - and even if he sometimes was an asshole - Theo was still his dear friend, and he truly wanted just the best for him, and he could not stand it to see the other one so down as he was now.

"It's just…I miss her, man" Theo said with a cracking voice.

"Miss her? Who? Theo, tell me." Adam could not recall Theo having a girlfriend recently, and surely none of the groupie girls had broken his heart. But of course he could be wrong, even if actually Adam always noticed if there was something serious going on with Theo and a girl.

"Don't tell me you don't know her, she has been around since we we've been in Berlin two months ago, and I spent all my free time with her!"

"No, Theo, I still don't know who you mean, just tell me already!" Adam started to get even more confused. Was he getting blind or what?

"It's her, Evelyn… my Pogo Stick" Theo finally told him in a how-can-you-be so-stupid-not-to-notice- something-this-obvious-voice.

Now Adam understood. Theo had kept the stupid thing that he got as a present everywhere they went, and was always bouncing around on it through the backstage. It slowly had driven Adam insane, so had been quite happy when Theo left it in Cologne. He thought he had grown tired of it; but no, he actually left the damn thing there and now was slowly drifting into depressions because of it.

"It's okay, Theo, we're going to get your… Evelyn... back", Adam promised although he hated the thought of having Theo bouncing around the backstage and disturbing everyone. But somehow he felt like it was a bad idea to just ignore the story, so he swore that he would find a way to solve the problem.

Chapter II: Evelyn, I've got No One but You

The next morning, no Theo was about to appear, just as Adam had expected. After his confession last evening, Theo had broken down, totally drunk and desperate.

Since it seemed like a bad idea to let him recover on the floor over the whole night in his unconscious condition – although the imagination of a knocked out Theo sleeping on the hotel floor was quite adorable - Adam had freighted Theo to his bed, half carrying, half dragging.

After he had performed the act of hauling Theo into his bed – maybe Adam should keep up his Ping Pong exercises to get fit again – he looked at him alienated. Theo, he thought, what has Evelyn done to you? How could she dare to destroy the life of a wonderful person like you on this cruel, cold-hearted way?

In this moment, as he looked down at Theo's dolorous face, how he was lying there on his bed, totally knocked out by himself (and the several bottles of Whiskey), Adam came to a decision:

He would avenge Theo for everything that Evelyn had done to him! Maybe she was just a Pogo Stick, and Adam hated it when Theo was bouncing around every single day (he had taken Evelyn even to the toilet! Awkward!), but he would not accept it that Theo's life was totally destroyed by this cold-blooded pogo stick. He would get Evelyn back, no matter what ever happened! It was for Theo, and this was enough reason to forget the rest.

Now, while Adam was sitting in the lounge of the hotel, watching fishes in the aquarium, he felt more uncomfortable with every minute passing by. Sure, the next concert was tomorrow, so they had enough time to go on with their tour to this one other country (what was the name again…?) but actually they had planned to leave today. Adam himself was a quite reliable person, and Theo did his best; but his habit to take pretty, dark-haired groupies to his hotel room and spend apparently very interesting nights with them (damn, that imagination gave Adam chills…Theo still was HIS band fellow) caused several hangovers on Theo .

But anyway, it was about 2p.m. and Adam was getting nervous. He blamed himself that he did not search for some secret ration of Whiskey bottles in Theo's underwear.

Oh no, he thought, and rushed to Theo's room. He knocked, but no one opened. But what was this? He heard a quiet whispering.

"Theo, I know you are awake, please open", he said. No answer. He knocked again, but then he noticed that the door was not locked. Quietly he entered the room. "Theo, are you alright?" he said gently. The room was dark and the air was muggy. He saw a silhouette sitting on the floor, leaning at the bed, whispering quietly. Now his eyes had adjusted to the lack of light, and he was frightened. He already had become a spectator of a totally personal breakdown of Theo (no good times…) but this was the worst image he had ever seen. He looked like a maniac lunatic.

"All the times bouncing around backstage…is it because I never took you to public? WAS IT THAT WHAT YOU WANTED?! How could you leave…I've got no one but you…- -Do you bring me Whiskey?" Theo asked with a quiet, breaking voice. It was not hard to spot that he was hiding another bottle behind his back.

"Uuuuuhm…no…I think you've had enough of that stuff", Adam said, frightened.

"Then shut the fuck up and leave", Theo shouted angrily. He looked totally broken and desperate; his hair was – a miracle! – a whole mess and he covered his face behind his hands.

Okay, there is no help, Adam thought. Now I have to take the more violent way.

Actually, Theo was simply too drunk to defend himself, so it was not difficult to grab the – complete empty - bottle of Whiskey.

"Is this healthy for you, Theo?" Adam asked strictly. "No, it isn't, and you know that. We already have talked about that habit, and you will be a better help for getting Evelyn back when you are not a doped jerk."

With the word Evelyn, Theo got that disturbing expression in his face, Adam was shocked. He kneeled next to Theo.

"Listen, we WILL get her back. Even if you are just a total asshole and jerk sometimes, your suffering is still mine, so we will find a way!"

"When…was the part that…we started behaving like two faggots…" Theo mumbled. "I just can't remember…when did I actually confess to you that…"

At this part – Adam was just about to break out with his confessions that he carried with him all the time, too- , Theo started doing something like half-dying, again.

Adam did not like that kind of stuff, he still preferred Theo alive, but he really wondered what Theo wanted to say. Was it just the fact that he was totally ratted, or was this the real Theo who had been speaking? What did he want to say?! Adam was extremely confused. Was it possible that there had been the chance that he had been waiting for…?

Adam tried to make the separation as easy as possible for Theo, but anyway: since Evelyn was gone; nothing was the same as ever before.

No one was.

Theo was not.

There was no idea how it should work on the concert. How should they do another show if Theo was not even able to say "fuck you" anymore?

Yeah, correct. He did not even say this.

"I just don't get it", Adam said. "I mean, I can understand how hard it is for you when you're separated from the love of your life, even if it is only a Pogo Stick…."

It did not look like Theo was listening. He seemed to be busier with remembering all the beautiful, bouncing and jumping times with Evelyn.

"Dude, just stop that yet!" Adam said angrily. "You've lived more than twenty years of your life without her, so you will survive one more week! Anyway…" he forgot what he wanted to say, but that was not that important. Theo switched back to the dimension of the alive.

"How can you EVER say that she is only a Pogo Stick?!" he shouted angrily. "She was like…everything for me! My whole life I've been waiting for the right time to tell her how I feel. And now I will probably never see her again…" He got intimate with his new affair, the bottle of Whiskey. Adam gave him a disappointed look, but Theo did not mind.

"I've already said it. We will get her back somehow" Adam said. He was a bit worried, because if it went on like this, there would be sure no concert in two hours, and he began to worry if there would EVER be another concert if Theo knocked himself out again. Are there any fans just interested in me…? he thought. But it did not matter, anyway.

"Listen" he said, "Evelyn wouldn't be proud of you if she saw you like this. No girl would ever be, and I'm not proud, either. So you have to stay strong and carry on, even if it seems to be impossible sometimes. And now just put that thing away!" he said as Theo was about to clean out another bottle. "I don't wanna do this concert alone, dude. Just to have mentioned that!"

"Yeah, that would be impossible, man" Theo said. "Because no one wants to see a guy dressed up as a waiter just sitting around" He gave a dejected little laugh. "In which way you ever turn it, I think I'll have to save the situation. There are about 3000 people who won't survive this evening without me…"

Yeah, maybe this was not exactly what Adam had meant, but it was a beginning. Now the next question was: How do I get Theo on the stage…? Maybe I can ask some groupies…Hell, NO!

It was only the second song of their set, but Adam already regretted what he had done. Theo was just hanging at the microphone, drunk and singing mechanically.

But the fans did not care, they were freaking out as always. Epic, Adam thought. Totally fucked up and still singing amazingly. I love that guy!

But then his worries came back. In the tiny break between two songs, he asked carefully:

"Are you sure you're gonna make that?" But Theo ignored him totally, just clutching at the microphone and gazing somewhere into the audience, before breaking into the most powerful beginning of 'Miracle' Adam had ever heard. He reminded their conversation before entering the stage.

"Do you really think you can make that?" he had asked.

And Theo, with the most deep, desperate glance had answered:

"If there is nothing else I can do for Evelyn, I will sing. And I will do it like never before!"

Man, he loved Theo. Always being awesome, it was terrific! Adam did his best to do something to get noticed by some fangirls, too, but there was no chance. Theo totally took the whole audience's attention, and until the ending of 'Stay', they all had stood up and were totally freaking out, as Theo just shouted out this one word, putting all of his emotions in it. Every feeling shared with Evelyn, every happy moment with her could be heard. At the end of the song, Theo sank down to the ground, covering his face behind his hands.

Adam was just about to suggesting carefully that it was enough, but right at this moment Theo suddenly stood up and said, with the most hopeless, empty and desperate voice:

"The next song is about someone who is the most unique and wonderful being on this planet…someone who knows more of love and life than any other will ever do. The song is called 'Evelyn'."

The music started quietly, almost carefully, and so was Theo singing. With this total empty, dejected voice he started, every word to listen hurt. But with the song going on, so the emotions for Evelyn did. It all just became the maybe most epic song that had ever been performed. At the end it was almost unbearable, the audience extradited to this insanity.

"So stay with me Evelyn…." Theo sang, on the most epic way ever. And then, as the music faded, with a quiet voice, completely heart-broken: "I've got no one but you…"

Silence.

Then the audience freaked out like never before, the concert was done. Unburdened Adam smiled at Theo.

But this guy had decided that it was a great idea to tumble down in front of the audience.

No, Adam thought. That's very stupid, Theo.

But Theo did not only stumble a little, he fell completely. And then he did not get up again. Everything was completely quiet, mummers about what just had happened and fearful gasps from the audience were the only noises in the entire hall.

Concerned Adam ran across the stage to see what had happened. Kneeling beside the unconscious man and shouting his name over and over again, he suddenly realized that there was an entire concert hall staring at the two of them. Quickly Adam got up again went to the microphone and apologized to the audience, and told them Theo would need a little break from all the stress of being on tour; a poor lie, he knew that, but he hoped they would buy it anyway.

After that, he and one of the security guys that were always standing near the stage, dragged the still unconscious Theo backstage, where the local doctor was already waiting, someone must have had called him.

The doctor finished his work and told Adam that Theo had only a light alcohol poisoning and that he would be alright after a day or two.

It was in that moment when Theo opened his eyes and a lot of weight fell from Adams chest, he had thought the singer must be dying, even if the doctor said it was only a light alcohol poisoning. But Theo simply muttered "Evelyn" before drifting away again.

Damn Evelyn, if she hadn't been there –well, _it_ - Adam had to remind himself that he was dealing with a lost Pogo Stick, not a mean Ex-Girlfriend - everything would be completely normal. No Theo who drank himself into oblivion and not the problem of how to get a Pogo Stick back from a city that was over 600 miles away and which they would not visit in the next 3 months or something. More and more Adam began to feel the wish of destroying this thing which ruined his life with the moment it appeared.

No, he could not destroy it; that would drive Theo into depressions completely, so instead of that he decided to call the concert hall in Cologne to ask if they had found a lonely Pogo Stick somewhere backstage. He felt like a total idiot, what was he going to say? "Hi, I'm Adam from Hurts and I'm searching for a lost Pogo stick, is there any chance you found one?"

In the end he said exactly this and the man he talked to did not even know what a Pogo Stick was, neither could he find anything that fitted the description.

The problem just got bigger, how was he going to explain that to Theo? There was no chance he would take it easy, in fact Theo would possibly drink himself to death after hearing the news, and this time for real. Now Adam felt truly horrible, there was almost no way out of the situation; if he told Theo that Evelyn was gone and no longer in Cologne, it would kill him; but he could not just go back to Cologne, either, Theo would ask questions and also Adam felt like it was his duty to watch out for his beloved friend in this hard times. This was the first time that he seriously needed to be there for the other one.

Anyway, he had to do something, but yet he had to decide what that would be.

Chapter III: Just another Lonely Sunday

He was disturbed in his thoughts as he heard Theo croaking "Aaaaadam" from the other backstage room. It sounded very poorly, so Adam decided to go and look after the singer.

Getting into the room he saw Theo sprawled out over the entire couch, a pillow pressed against his head and a glass of water – yes, actual water, not Whiskey - standing on the table besides him.

"Theo, what's up?" Adam said carefully, he was really concerned about the other man, having never seen him in a condition like that before.

"Adam, I can't move… my head… it (random band name) so much, I think it's going to explode. Pleeease, Adam, just do something! I can't bear it any longer" came the muffled response through the pillow. At least Adam thought it was be something like that.

"Okay, Theo, look, it's just another hangover, I will go and search for a painkiller and you just stay here. Try to sleep, tomorrow you will be alright, I promise."

It reminded Adam a little bit of dealing with an ill child. But it was fine; he had babysat his nephew enough to know these situations. And Theo was really adorable when he was moaning like a little child.

Luckily Theo was sleeping after he finally took the painkiller, which left Adam some space to think what to do about Evelyn.

Theo would be fine the next morning, which was what Adam had told himself and Theo , too.

Well, he was not fine, to say the least.

In fact he was miserable. They had managed to get Theo to his hotel room (somehow he got used to this aweso…awkward situations) and there into the bed, where he fell asleep instantly. But now he had woken up and he still did not feel better. Alcohol poisoning was more harmful than you would have thought. But still even Theo's bad condition did not change the fact that Adam needed to talk to him about the missing Evelyn, and that surely was not going to be fun.

When suddenly his phone started to ring and he recognized Theo's number on the screen, Adam was truly worried. Answering the phone, he was welcomed with Theo yelling at him.

"You are a liar, Adam, get the fuck over here! I feel like shit! You told me I would be better in the morning, but guess what?! I'm not! How dare you to lie to me Adam? HOW DARE YOU?"

Theo screamed the last question before furiously ending the call. Damn, Adam did not know Theo could be so angry…They had their fights and everything but he had never seen, well, heard Theo like this.

Hoping Theo did not drink again and that this was what caused his temper, he got over to Theo's hotel room.

After carefully knocking on the door, he could hear tumbling footsteps from inside. When Theo finally opened the door, Adam was shocked by his look. He thought he had seen the other man in bad conditions, but what he saw now was worse than everything he had ever seen. Still dressed up in yesterday's clothes and all sweaty from sleep. Dark circles under his eyes and the rest of his face pale, Theo looked like a zombie.

"I hate you, Adam! Telling me I would get better! Do I look like I'm better?! Well, I'm not, you liar!" the singer screamed before nearly collapsing against Adams chest. Aweso…awkward!

"Come on, let's get you back inside", was the only thing he said before directing Theo back inside the hotel room and placing him into a chair. Gladly there was no more protest or screaming. Having Theo seated down and not complaining about anything, Adam thought he might as well just get over it and tell Theo about Evelyn. Carefully he cleared his throat before saying:

"Theo, there is something I need to tell you…"

God, he sounded like these teenage mums who told their boyfriends that they were pregnant. Anyway...

"Theo, it's about Evelyn."

As soon as he had said that, Theo changed. His eyes lit up and he sat straight, waiting to hear the news about his love. He looked kind of like a child at Christmas, with this hopeful glimmer in his eyes.

"I'm afraid it's bad news, though…" Adam began, it almost broke his heart, and then he quickly continued:

"I called the club in Cologne and no one had found or seen Evelyn since we left..."

Again, Theo changed instantly. His shoulders dropped and the glimmer disappeared from his eyes. He looked up at Adam with tears in his eyes before saying:

"Leave me alone, just please, Adam; I need to be alone right now. Just leave me…"

The last sentence sounded so desperate that Adam left instantly. It nearly killed him to see his dear friend like this. As soon as he had closed the door he heard a scream coming from inside and then sobbing. Oh no, Theo, what have I done?

Adam really wanted to help Theo to do something against his sorrow. But what was he going to do, driving back to Cologne and investigate the case of the missing Pogo Stick?

Actually, maybe the idea was not as bad as he thought. Adam knew that after Theo's breakdown, their manager had cancelled all shows for the next two weeks, and in that time they would be able to find a Pogo Stick. So maybe the best thing they could do right now was to get the train to Cologne and search for the damn thing.

Also, having something to do might distract Theo from his sorrows. As the sobbing inside the hotel room grew quieter, Adam knocked on the door again. Luckily, Theo let him in.

After proposing his plan to Theo, who at first did not see any sense in there but then started to like the idea, he managed to get Theo to dress properly, and in the meantime, Adam bought the train tickets.

When finally Theo looked kind of presentable and not like a zombie anymore - you never knew when a Paparazzi was going to spot you, so they always left the house perfectly dressed - the two musicians left for the train station.

Nothing really exciting happened on the train journey; Adam checked Instagram and Twitter while Theo slept most of the time, until Adam could hear Theo muttering something softly in his sleep. He could not make out what exactly Theo was saying, but when the singer said something again, Adam was able to understand it. It was:

"Evelyn, ich liebe dich", which was German for "Evelyn, I love you."

But why would Theo talk to Evelyn in German? It took Adam some time to figure out why exactly; and when he got it, it was very simple. Evelyn was a German Pogo Stick; so, being polite as he was, Theo had spoken German with her, which was actually really sweet of him. Adam was pulled out of his thoughts when Theo said something again, this time it was:

"Ich vermisse dich, bitte komm zurück." It was harder for Adam to understand it this time, he wished he had paid more attention in his German classes, but after a little while, and Google Translator, he figured out that it meant "I miss you, please come back". Adam really hoped that Theo would say something else, but he just kept quiet for the rest of the journey.

Chapter IV: Somebody to Die for

It was late and dark night when they arrived in Cologne. Adam was quite bored at the end of the journey, because he got rid of any photos he could post on Instagram. And Twitter had nothing new to tell, too.

Theo was still sleeping after all the hours, and that was quite fine, Adam thought. Maybe he would be better now.

But waking him up was a very complicate procedure. Especially when he belonged to the living since only a half day.

"Theo …we're almost there", Adam said loudly, because he knew that the soft way would bring no success. But this way did not, either.

He poked Theo's shoulder. No reaction.

He poked Theo's cheek. This guy just turned his head and showed no other reaction.

Adam sighed. He stood up and came close to Theo.

"Dude, wake up!" Still no reaction. Adam came closer, until his head was next to Theo's. He could not remember ever being that close to him.

"Theo, I've got Whiskey for you..."

The other one nearly jumped up and because of Adam still being next to Theo's face, their heads almost crashed together. Theo gave Adam a disappointed look.

"Dude, there are about…I don't know how many, but I'm sure there are some guys who will feel much more comfortable with your advance...than I do…" Weakly he sank into his seat again.

"Man, just stop that!" Adam said angrily. Then he grabbed Theo's jacket, pulled him on his feet - "Don't touch me, flit!" - and dragged him out of the train.

Weird, how much their situation had changed, Adam thought. I mean, I can do this now without bad feelings.

Welp, he should not have thought that. Because, as they were "walking" on the dark street – Theo still not very fit, to say it on a gentle way, Adam made the mistake of looking at him closer at him – man, he still looked awesome, although it was dark and Theo had become a zombie within two days -what caused him dropping Theo 's Jacket, blinded from pure awesomeness. No, not good.

"I feel so light", Theo slobbered, before he barged about two more meters – oh no! – and fell down.

Jesus, how much of that Whiskey stuff did Theo actually have had? Did he exchange his own blood with it or what?! Adam thought, before heroic diving headlong into Theo's direction to save him from the nasty hard ground. It was bad enough to cancel two weeks of concerts (looking at the situation, he was not sure if two weeks would be enough), but what would people say when The returned with only one eye or something like that?

Yeeah, I have a higher destiny, Adam thought. I have to save Theo's visage!

Then one of the most memorable moments of Adam's life happened. Theo landed right in his arms.

This accident made Adam become unresponsive, but it woke Theo up instead.

"Eeeew, dude, what the fuck are you doing there?" he asked. "Where the hell are we and why the heck are you doing this to me? I thought you were a nice guy, ass!"

Theo still sounded extremely fucked up and did not manage it to make one step before sinking on the ground again. That caused getting Adam back to the living.

Forget what ever happened, he said to himself. Forget who the hopeless guy is, your only task is to get him safely somewhere now.

He pulled Theo back onto his feet – now he had drifted away again – and put his arm around Theo 's shoulders.

Yes, now we ARE looking like a couple, he thought. Well, it's dark, so maybe not that many people will see it. I hope.

"All these faggots…" Theo mumbled, before passing away.

When Theo woke up, his head hurt so much that he wished desperately to fall asleep again. But somehow it did not work. He buried his face in the pillow and tried to ban any thought he had.

But…there were simply no thoughts.

He opened his eyes widely. What happened and where the heck was he?!

Theo tried to get up, what was the most painful experience of his life. Somehow he managed it to get on to his feet, but staying up there was much more difficult.

Come on, man, he thought. Think!

It seemed like a hotel room or something like that, but not the same as before. But what exactly had been before? How did he get here?

He slowly walked into the bathroom, but the image in the mirror scared the shit out of him. He was still wearing his suit, his hair was an apocalypse – how could this even have happened? – and he had not have those beautiful dark circles around the eyes since Daggers-times.

Hey, Zombie Theo, he thought. How could you dare to appear?

He had never been focused extremely on fashion and look, but if he hated anything, then it was the image of him not looking perfectly. He had already have times where he could not help but looking awful; but now, as a handsome guy, he had to use this look…there was a reason for all the girls loving him!

Dejected he tried to save what could be saved, and thirty minutes later he first found out that standing on two feet was a damn difficult thing and second, that the impossible happened: He did not look perfectly today.

After he got his hair tidied up and changed his meanwhile battered clothes, he looked in the mirror again.

Damn, Zombie Theo, leave already!

This image was unbearable, so he looked around in the room. His eyes got stuck at the bar. Yes, he thought. Seems legit.

Two minutes and a shot of Whiskey later – his head was still killing him – he fell down into a chair. Jesus, head, stop that.

So, to start this on the easy way, he thought, my name is Theo. I'm from Manchester, I like music – I guess I'm a singer or something like that – and I mostly like pretty and dark-haired girls.

That's it! He thought. It only had been an enjoyable night!

Well…no. Then I would not have looked like a dead man.

So I think I'm a singer. We are called…_Hurts_…?

Wait, "_we_"? So there has to be another person…

Yeah. There was this waiter guy who always sat and walked besides Theo. What was his name again…? Oh, right, his name was Adam. THIS guy…Theo remembered.

Then a flashback happened.

"_Hello, I'm Theo". "And I'm Adam". "We're Hurts"…_

One second…_Hurts_…what the hell…

Then everything came back to him.

Wonderful Life. Stay. Their songs. Their success. The groupies.

Whiskey.

The new album. Miracle. Blind.

Evelyn!

And with this thought, his memories came back. Also his soul and his feelings returned. His soul and all the pain.

No…he thought. This can't be!

He cleared the glass of Whiskey.

Evelyn! he thought.

Then everything faded to black – again.

"Are you listening?" Adam asked emphatically.

Theo's look changed its direction.

"Yeah…kind of" he said. "I do my best."

Adam sighed. Then he repeated his words.

"We have to follow every single track we have to get any chance to find Evelyn. So we will start at the place you have lost her. Understand?"

Theo nodded slowly. Okay, Adam thought, at least he is trying to understand.

"This direction." He conducted Theo to the door of the concert hall, which they had entered for the first time only about a week ago. It felt like an eternity.

But Adam was proud that he had got Theo into an acceptable condition, out of the room, rid of his Whiskey and to this concert hall. This act had been harder than to perform than a concert while forgetting all chords. But now Theo looked a bit like he usually did, he was able to speak and sometimes he even listened to Adam. An enormous success.

As they entered the concert hall, it was dark and cold inside.

"Alright" Adam said. "I've talked to the guy who takes care of this place; we can search here as long as we need to. Nothing will take place here today, so we can look for the right track."

Theo did not seem to have listened this time; but as they walked through the hall in direction of the stage, suddenly something dark and sad glowed in his eyes. He took a deep breath.

"Do you think she's gonna be alright?" he asked.

"To be honest, my dear friend" Adam said, "I can't answer this question. I mean, I've called and they said they couldn't find Evelyn anywhere. I have no idea where she is; and if she's okay I don't know, either."

Theo had this heart-breaking hopeless look in his face again. It was really hard to look at him when he was in a condition like that; compared to how he usually was. Adam felt so sorry for his friend, it really hurt him to see Theo so sad.

"It's so hard to explain…but anyway, if she really left me – there were so many happy times with her that I will remember her for the rest of my life. No matter what she thinks about me, I never had the same feelings for a girl like for her…I only want her to be safe and happy; but I can't live if her way of living happily is without me…" With every word he sounded more desperately, and it truly broke Adam's heart to see his dear friend like this. Theo leaned against the wall right beneath the stage and sank down to the ground, covered his face with his hands.

"I mean…how did my life turn since Evelyn is gone?" he asked with this completely depressed voice. "What do I have now? The love of my life is lost, and I have no idea if she just left or if someone has kidnapped her. And both thoughts are just unbearable for me. I'm completely alone; the only person left here is you. I've got no one else!"

Hey, I'm not that bad, Adam thought. But anyway, he could not stand it any longer and pulled Theo back on to his feet.

"If you're just sitting on the ground, moaning like a little child, it won't help this story in any way. If you want to get her back, you will have to do something".

But Theo looked at him, with no facial expression than just heartache and sorrow, tears were in his eyes.

"Oh shit, Theo. What the hell should I do with you?" he asked.

"It's just…" Theo said quietly, almost crying, "if she really left me, it would break my heart into thousands of tiny pieces, but I knew she would be okay. It still was blank horror. But it's like…I can't really tell where she is! What is, if she still loves me, but something had happened to her? I could not live with this imagination!" Now Theo seriously was about to cry. Adam felt a bit helpless.

"Come on, we will find a way! I'm sure about that!" He placed his arm around Theo's shoulder. "Please trust me, Theo …I will help you to find her, no matter what happens". It nearly broke Adam's heart to see Theo, who he knew for so many years now, in this depressed condition. He wished that this damn Pogo Stick had never existed! Only the fact that Theo did not protest in any way because of Adam touching him was a very bad sign.

"So, dude, where should we start? I think here is nothing, so let's go and look backstage" he said.

Theo just did not say anything; he seemed to be busy enough with holding back his tears.

As soon as they entered the backstage, both of the glorious duo got a visit of the same memories, but with completely different attitudes.

For Theo, it was a flashback of the most joyful moment; when he stood on Evelyn, bouncing around the backstage and simply living the most awesome life ever.

But for Adam it was the unloved memory of seeing Theo how he was doing that kind of stuff… Bouncing around everywhere; disturbing everyone and making Adam feel very awkward. Now he realized again what they were actually dealing with: A fucking lost Pogo Stick!

Maybe it was the odd memory of a Theo being on the stage, behaving and singing with a lot of drama, all these dark and desperate songs, handling with white roses, being extremely hot for all the girls (and a lot of the boys) and so on...and ten minutes later bouncing around on a Pogo Stick (which he even had given a name!) while still wearing his suit and all that stuff…but whatever it was, it made Adam feel very, very awkward.

Sure, these were very bad depressions and a serious personal crisis Theo was dealing with (plus this addiction to Whiskey), but anyway: It was only a fucking damn Pogo Stick. Adam sighed.

But then he looked at Theo again, and he needed only one short close look to realize that it was more than only a toy, it had been maybe the most important thing in the life of the other man and now it was gone.

When they entered the backstage, Theo gave the hall a longing look back. Then he slowly followed Adam, with his head bent.

"So, let's have a close look at this room here" Adam said. "I still remember how she looked, so maybe we will find her…"

Now Theo showed some reaction, too; and they started searching.

They looked everywhere: Behind every door, in every room, on the floor…there was no Evelyn. Not a little bit. Not a single screw.

But they did not give up; they kept on their work. It was no big concert hall, but a backstage was very hard to search, because there was so much stuff everywhere.

Evelyn was not next to the lighting machines, not between the microphones…with every hour passing, Theo got more and more distressed.

"Can I help you two maybe?" a voice asked. Adam and Theo turned around. The caretaker of the hall stood behind them and paid them a really flabbergasted look. Adam did not know why, it was completely normal that two guys wearing suits - of who the one looked like a zombie - searched in a concert hall for "Evelyn". He must think we're looking for a pet or so.

"May I ask…" Theo said, "do you have Whiskey?"

Adam sighed. Now he felt like a mom caring for her rebellious teenage child.

"No, I'm sure he has none; and if yes, then not for you" he said insistent. Then he looked at the man, a maybe about 50-year-old guy who seemed to be not very confident with his job.

"We actually do have a question…I already called a day ago, do you remember?"

"Yeah, you was this guys who was look this toy, right?"

Ouch, Adam thought. Not good. He looked at Theo severe, because this guy was about to freak out and Adam wanted to prevent this. It would make things only more complicated.

Theo hesitated, but then he kept quiet. Maybe it was just because of his condition – he somehow really did not look very good, Adam thought worried – but it did not matter. As long as he did behave, everything was alright.

"It's a Pogo Stick", Adam said resigned.

"Yeah…that's not a…" the man said with a horrible German accent, "I don't find a thing looks like this…you will alone?"

Whoa, his English was pretty interesting. Why couldn't Theo help out a bit…

And he did.

"Listen" he said angrily. "Es ist ein fucking Pogo Stick, und sie heißt Evelyn! Du kennst sie nicht, also shut the fuck up über sie! Wie kannst du sie a toy nennen?! Sie hat mehr intelligence als du!"

The guy looked at Theo with widely opened eyes. Adam did not get what Theo was saying, it was way too fast for him to understand. But the way Theo said all this did not sound very friendly. Before he could stop him, Theo went on:

"Also schmeiß dein ass hier raus und lass uns allein, dickhead, sonst…"

„Theo, enough!" Adam said. He still had not understand anything except "ass" and "dickhead", and that WAS enough.

The caretaker guy just shook his head, looked at them a bit confused and left without saying anything.

"Theo, what the hell?" Adam inveighed. Now he was really angry. This was not treating with a little child that had lost his toy anymore; this was much more than only babysitting.

"I have no idea what you've just said, but I don't think it you said it in a way you should talk to people! Damn, you're awful!"

"And YOU should shut the fuck up too, fuckface" Theo shouted. "Why is there not ANYBODY who can understand me? I don't want this stuff anymore! I'm sick and tired of being afraid!" Theo seemed like he was completely out of his mind when he kicked the door so violently that it shattered into pieces. Adam had never seen him like this before, and he started to get afraid.

"Theo …"

"All these loverless nights seem so long, and every time I can feel the darkness coming…" It was insane. Adam could only stand helpless next to this maniac.

"No one can imagine this! I'm afraid of myself. Until now I could never find the words to say…if she won't come back tomorrow, I'll be left here in the cold…doesn't she hear me? I just need some help…somebody to die for…I need her! EVELYN!" he shouted, totally out of his mind. This was not Theo anymore. Adam had to fight his panic down. He felt totally helpless.

But then the problem solved itself somehow.

"I don't need this life…" Theo said quietly, gliding down the wall on the floor. "I am brave enough to die, because forever I'll fight. No matter where I'll end, in death I will survive. But not alone…I just need Evelyn; I've got no one but her! She could take me somewhere I'll be safe and carry my lifeless body away from the pain…"

Totally desperate Theo sat on the floor, pulling his knees up against his chest and leaning his face against his legs - then he started to cry.

"I see the lights casting shadows everywhere, and Evelyn, since you're gone I don't know what I'll do…" he cried.

Yes, he was crying now, full of pain and desperation.

"If she won't come back …I will go!"

The sound of Theo crying, with all the pain and hopelessness, was the most disturbing thing Adam had ever heard. He had never felt as helpless as he was doing now.

Evelyn, he thought. Please back come and stop this. Please!

Chapter V: Mercy

It all was so surreal. Adam thought it would be the best to get Theo out of the concert hall as fast as possible, so that Theo would not be confronted with more memories of his times with Evelyn. He was dealing with serious shit and did not want Theo to do REALLY dumb things.

After tugging lightly on Theo's sleeve, he managed to get him on his feet and outside.

In front of the building the caretaker was already waiting for them. Adam just hoped that Theo would behave this time, but Theo just ignored the caretaker and paid his whole attention to the posters hanging outside of the concert hall. Or maybe just to the feelings inside him. Also he tried to stop crying.

And luckily the man went to talk to Adam instead of Theo.

"Lady give me this…" he told Adam in broken English and handed him a folded piece of paper. "She say it's for you."

Without any other word he went inside and locked the door after him, probably because he would go home now, it seemed like one else would be coming here today.

Curious what would be in the letter, Adam unfolded it and read what it said.

"I know that you are searching for something that is very important to you. I might know where it is" was written in clean but very small handwritten letters on the piece of paper. And underneath them, there was a picture of a chocolate fountain and next to the picture was written:

"Find this and you will get another hint."

At first Adam was not sure if he should show Theo this - he was standing on unsteady ground - but then he thought: at least this would give him some hope.

So he went over to the poster wall where Theo stood and showed the letter to him.

After having read the letter, suddenly a bright spot appeared between the thunder clouds: a smile was on Theo's face, it was the first time in long Adam saw Theo smiling.

"Adam" he said breathy, "Adam, she is alive, she is alive and she didn't leave me because she wanted to. Someone had kidnapped her!"

Even the last sentence sounded as if it was the best thing that could ever happen to Theo.

"Come on, Adam, we have to find this thing," he pointed at the photo, "time waits for no one, Adam, every second is a lifetime!"

With that he started walking away so fast that Adam almost had to run to keep up with his pace. "Theo, wait, we don't even know where to search… Maybe first we should think about possible places where it could be" Adam suggested when he finally reached the singer. Man, who could ever change his emotions that fast?

"Yes, I guess it's true, but where could a chocolate fountain be? A lot of people have one at home and we don't have the time to look in every single flat of Cologne…"

Theo was right. They could not just search for every single chocolate fountain in Cologne and hope one would be the right one. That would take an eternity.

But Adam did not think that the kidnappers expected them to do that. So they must have picked a public place, and that limited the number of possible places, which meant they would just have to ask some people were they would find a well-known public chocolate fountain. That would not be very hard… hopefully…

After he told Theo his master plan (yes, Adam was proud to finally have a productive idea) they decided to start their research directly. Anyway…Theo did, because Adam could not say no when his depressive friend was that happy.

So Adam just went to ask the next person that walked by, a young lady with a dog, about the mysterious chocolate fountain. But the only response he got was:

"Sorry I not speak English…"

Damn, if no one in Cologne was able to speak English, it was almost hopeless to search any further. Did not they learn that in school?

Adam had nearly already given up hope, but then Theo moved to say something and Adam realized that he forgot Theo could speak German (well…at least a better bit).

"Entschuldigen sie meinen Freund, er war sehr unpolite, er kann eben nur Englisch, aber wir würden gerne wissen: kennen sie diese fountain?", Theo asked the woman and showed her the picture, so she would understand him better.

„Nein, tut mir leid, den kenn ich nicht."

Judging from her tone and the fact that he understood the word "Nein" (Whoa! He could understand a foreign language?!) Adam figured out that Theo had about the same success he had. But Adam did not want to give up. He had a plan, and he had a very broken-hearted friend, so they would find the next hint for Evelyn; he just hoped Theo thought the same. He wondered if Theo was even able to think or hope anything after his attack only a couple of minutes and one letter ago.

Luckily Theo just asked the next stranger whether he knew the fountain, and this time they actually got a useful answer.

The man told them that he knew of a chocolate museum that was in Cologne, and that they should try their luck there.

Theo did not have to hear this twice, with a quick "Dankeschön!" he rushed away, and Adam rushed after him to catch up with his friend.

"I knew we would find it!" Now Theo reminded him on a little child again. This joyful glow in his eyes and how he ran before thinking…it was quite adorable, Adam thought.

When they finally found a cap, they drove to the chocolate museum and got there just in time; because it was already about to close.

But again, Theo could convince the Lady who worked there (Adam did not knew how someone could be that good with women…sometimes this simply was not fair anymore, and he did not like that anyway) that they had an emergency and it really would not take long. He gave her a friendly-convincing smile.

"Aber eigentlich müssten wir jetzt wirklich schließen…" It did not sound very assured.

"Madam, wir werden bestimmt nicht lange brauchen…es ist wirklich sehr wichtig!" He looked at her apologetically. She blushed a bit…

"Ja…okay, von mir aus, gehen Sie, aber bitte beeilen sie sich!"

„Vielen Dank… " Theo smiled at her thankfully and she quickly looked away.

So, Adam got it, they were allowed to go inside the museum. He had already seen the fountain from outside, but now, as they stood inside, he could not spot it.

But then he noticed the obvious smell of chocolate in the hall, so they just followed their noses.

After having walked through a couple of rooms, they finally saw the chocolate fountain, and the man who stood before it.

Theo went– no, ran - over to him, but before he could say anything, the guy gave Theo a note, before saying "Good luck" and then disappearing through a door that was marked as private. But at least they got another hint, so they left the museum and read the new letter outside.

Theo was grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"Oh Adam, I knew we would make it!" he burst out into happiness.

This time, the letter was longer and had no photo on it, but it was still the same clean and tiny handwriting. Another difference was there: No introduction or something like that. This time only a text…in fact a riddle.

"It is something new, but surrounded by very old things. It is good for transportation but at the same time it is not. You may know it; maybe you have even been there. But maybe you have not. There are a lot of things you can do that have nothing to do with its true purpose. When you find it, enter from the side that is across a very famous old building, and then search for something that is very important for its purpose. When you have found this thing, someone (or something?) else will find you..."

No one of them both said a word for a while. Then Theo sighed when he but the paper down.

"I guess it's going to be harder this time" he said. "But all we have to do is to solve this riddle, we can do that, Adam, we have already done much harder things." But he did not sound very convinced, too.

Adam tried to motivate Theo:

"Come on, we will get back to the hotel, you can even have a Whiskey if you want to, and then we will solve this riddle."

When Theo heard the sound of the name of his favorite drink, life rushed back into him.

"Okay, Adam, let's go now! Come on. Back to the hotel."

His last sentence sounded as if they were some superheroes in some superhero movie and for a second Adam thought about whether Theo had quoted a movie or just made up something for himself. But before he could think on, Theo was already about 20 meters away, running with the power of alcohol addiction.

When they arrived at the hotel, Theo pulled Adam straight to the bar and ordered a Whiskey without even waiting for Adam to think about what he wanted; so Adam just ordered a beer.

It was Germany, everyone drank beer here, and he still did not want to get the attention of some Paparazzi guy, just in case Theo would have a breakdown again.

Adam had become very careful not to ruin their image since Evelyn left, and Theo was not a big support for this plan.

But as the night went on further, and they did not have any idea about what the mysterious text could mean, Theo's alcohol consummation started to rise, and after yet another time he ordered a full bottle of Whiskey, being tired of having to order again every five minutes - and Adam had drunken more than he usually did – he did not really care about the amount of alcohol that Theo drank. It had started to rain.

After having read the kidnappers' message for about a hundred times, (at least that was what Adam assumed, Theo did not really look up from the paper when he was not drinking or ordering more Whiskey) Theo looked at Adam and said:

"You know, I think you have hired someone to steal Evelyn. I know you never liked our relationship, maybe you've even hated her, so it would be great for you just to hire someone to steal her and then play the concerned friend, wouldn't it? Now I can see everything, Adam! Suddenly my eyes are open and now I understand!"

With each sentence he said, Theo became more and more furious, and Adam became more and more disappointed. He did not - he could not - understand how the other one would think something like this about him.

"Why…why the hell are you thinking I would do something like this, Theo? After all we've been through, how can you suspect I would do something like that? Yes, sometimes I thought she was annoying, but I would never, ever kill something – someone - you loved!"

His attempt to explain himself to Theo did not quite work, seeing as Theo looked like he did not believe a single word Adam was saying.

"You are disgusting, Adam; you are a disgusting little liar. I don't believe it! Just admit it already!" Theo nearly screamed and people started to get interested in them, so Adam dragged Theo outside in the rain, saying:

"Let's discuss it out here, that's better, believe me."

"Discuss? I am done discussing with you Adam. It's over. It's too late!" After shouting the last sentence into Adams face, Theo punched him right into the stomach. Not having seen this coming, Adam was surprised by the punch and could not breathe for a little while. Theo, what the fuck…?

When he finally caught his breath again, he brutally pushed Theo away; seeing the usually always controlled man struggle for balance, and somehow it felt good. The rain was pouring, so that none of them was able to see much.

Before Theo could even get his balance back, Adam punched him right into the face, leaving a bright red mark around Theo's eye. Seeing him holding his eye and stumble backwards onto the wet asphalt, satisfied Adam. But that feeling did not last long, because Theo got back up quickly, wanting to punch Adam again, this time aiming for the face, too.

Adam saw this strike coming, so he just ducked down, which brought Theo out of balance, again. He stumbled, before falling on the pavement and struggling to get up again. Both guy's hair and clothes were completely soppy, the rain pouring into their faces.

Adam just kicked him. He did not hear Theo's groaning from pain and indignity, not being able to defend himself. He felt adrenalin rushing through his veins, and somehow every memory of times in which he just wanted to hurt Theo came back. Theo annoying the shit out of everybody. _Kick. _Theo drinking himself into oblivion and having Adam dealing with the mess he left. _Kick_. All the groupies in the tour bus. _Kick._ His terrible taste of music (Only one name: Eminem.) _Kick. _Rain everywhere, water splashing from the ground and themselves.

After some time Adam was so exhausted he started to see his surrounding again. And then he saw Theo, lying on the ground in the rain, unconscious, completely beaten up.

_Wait._ That had been him.

Shit! It had been Adam who caused the state his friend was in. He had been so out of his mind that he did not even notice that Theo had become unconscious; he could have beaten him to death!

Oh God, he had not beaten him to death, had he? Adam felt tears rushing into his eyes at the thought that he could have killed his dear friend. Or having actually killed him.

He could not stand it anymore, sinking on his knees into a puddle, next to Theo's lifeless body, searching desperately for his hand to feel a pulse.

But his own hands were trembling and he could not see right. Basically he could not do anything except hoping - begging - Theo would be alright. Bringing his face close to Theo's, he whispered: "Theo , oh Theo …. What have I done?"

When their faces were as close together as they were, he could feel the others' light breath against his cheek. He breathed, and that meant he lived! Theo was alive! Thank God, Adam had not killed him!

Not being able to hold the tears back, he just started crying; right there, in front of a hotel, in the pouring rain at night.

He did not know how much time passed by, but suddenly he remembered the state that they both were in, and somehow he made it to think about what was to do next.

He decided that it would be better to go inside. He had to carry Theo's inanimate body and he realized again that he was way to unathletic (he definitely needed to start his Ping Pong exercises again). But this was not important! He just had almost killed Theo, and this still seemed so unreal that he was like paralyzed.

After somehow managing to get Theo into his hotel room - he had to search for the room key in Theo 's pocket, which was very aweso…- awkward - he thought it would be the best to just let him sleep. He seriously considered staying at Theo's room for the night; it seemed like the best way to get through this terrible night.

He fell down on the couch, still dripping wet from the rain, looking at the ceiling.

No, he thought, still in a shock. This could not have happened.

That is impossible…

Please, anyone, tell me that it was only a hyper realistic dream! he begged in his mind. But no one heard his prayers.

This night, afflicted by his bad conscience, Adam did not get any sleep. He was just thinking about Theo the whole night, as he sat there and watched him sleep, and he was sure that Theo would never forgive him.

Chapter VI: Silver Lining

When Theo woke up, he was in pain. It was not only normal hangover pain, this was fucking serious.

Damn, what happened? Was he still alive or was he dead?

If being dead felt like this, then death was a bitch.

He tried to sit up, but directly fell back into the bed. He could hardly breathe from the stabbing pain everywhere.

Seriously, what the hell happened? he thought. Okay, come on, you can make it…he tried to get up again and with lots of trouble he managed it to look around.

Okay, surely this was not heaven, but for hell it still looked too friendly. Anyway, it definitely felt like hell. His whole body hurt so much that he could not say where the pain was the biggest, it just made him wishing to die quickly and as fast as possible. Plus, he could hardly see with his left eye, somehow everything looked very blurry.

His head was about to explode, he could not find any memory, and he could hardly breathe because his chest hurt so much that it was almost impossible.

Keep calm, Theo, he thought. You are alive and that's a great beginning. First find out where the hell you are…

He looked around, but he was really afraid that his head would just burst if he did one more move. He really wanted to know and he finally realized that he was still in his hotel room. This time maybe he still knew who he was and he still felt his broken heart about Evelyn, but the memory of about two days did not want to return.

Then he saw the proof of what happened yesterday: A half-sleeping Adam was hanging on the couch, just about to wake up completely.

Holy shit, what had Adam done to him? Sneaky little faggot! What did happen?! They did not…NO! Sure not! This could not have happened!

"Adam…" he said, "what the heck are you doing here? What have you done? What have WE done?" he said with panic before realizing that freaking out was not the best idea.

Now it was time for Adam's turn to freak out:

"Whatnowedidn'tIwouldneverhowcanyouthinkthatwehave , Theo …NO!"

Thanks to the Lord!

"At least any good news…"

Adam looked at him, without saying anything for a few seconds. Then he burst out with happiness.

"Theo, are you fucking kidding me?! You are alive, that's the best news ever! I seriously thought you were about to die tonight!"

Theo was really afraid that Adam was about to run over to him and hug him. But luckily he stayed where he was.

He was confused. So, what Adam was saying sounded pretty much like Theo was alive, although he did not feel like this.

"Wait…why should I be dead? And why does it feel like I've just jumped from a building?" Theo asked in rage.

"Theo …I have to confess something to you…"

"What?! You've just said that we didn't…?" Theo started panicking again, but he was stopped directly by the feeling of his body breaking into pieces.

"No, everything is okay…in this way" Adam said gently. "Just calm down, my friend, you shouldn't stress yourself so much…not in your condition…"

Even if Theo was very confused and barely able to talk without passing away from pain, Adam sounded truly concerned about his friend. But there had to be a reason why there was – deep in Theo's lost memories – endless anger about the other one.

Adam sat down on the edge of Theo's bed; and now, in his horrible condition, Theo totally forgot to feel awkward. He wanted to sigh, but he did not manage to, so he just said:

"Adam, just be honest: What happened? Tell me the truth."

Adam hesitated.

"I knew there had been something yesterday…I'm not stupid, this is not an ordinary hangover, this is serious. I want to know what happened to me, and I know that you can give me the answer."

"Okay…" Adam started, carefully and quietly. "You remember Evelyn and what happened to her?"

"Yes…I do…" Before Adam's words Theo had already known that Evelyn was not here anymore. But just right now the range of this thought entered his mind completely. And with his physical pain, and all his feelings seeming to have left his heart completely, he felt totally empty; before all his lost feelings being replaced with the most painful, heart-broken feeling there could ever be. But he forced himself not to start crying, because he would not survive it.

"The fact that she isn't here anymore has forced you into a deep and dark hell of your life. You just wanted to drink yourself into oblivion all the time, one shot Whiskey after another, until you collapsed right on the stage. This was the first time I was actually afraid that you would die."

Now, that Adam told him the story, remembered his suffering. But with Adam's description ending, so did Theo's memory. Completely shocked, he kept on listening to his friend. Did this really have happened? Yes, the images in his mind seemed to be real.

"But you survived, strong from the love to Evelyn. Anyway, those were maybe the darkest days of our lives, until I couldn't stand it any longer. We went here, to Cologne, to search for Evelyn. This was the moment of your second breakdown, you seriously were about to kill yourself. It was so horrible, I was feeling so helpless!" Now Adam sounded desperately, Theo was truly convinced about Adam's anxiety. And now he could remember these moments of endless pain, darkness everywhere and no reason to keep on living. The memories sent shivers down his spine.

"And then we were on the right track. Evelyn had been kidnapped, and the kidnapper gave us a hint. Soon after, we found a second hint and we knew that she was still alive. But the second riddle, it was yesterday, was impossible to solve. And then…everything escalated so quickly…" Adams voice became more desperate with every word.

"Just tell me already, Adam! I want to know the truth; I want to know what happened yesterday!"  
Now tears were in Adam's eyes. The expression on his face was horrible.

"I…I can't, Theo! I just can't! It's just too awful…I'll never be able to look into your eyes again, it is impossible to apologize for what I have done!"

Theo tried to put these sentences into a logical order. His headache was not a big help for this.

When I'm totally fucked up, not only psychical but physical, too, and Adam is freaking out like that, telling me that he has done something that horrible that he can't apologize…did he do all this to me?

No…that's impossible. We have our fights, but Adam would never be able to freak out like this!

"Adam. Now tell me: What. Happened. Yesterday?"

Adam covered his face behind his hands, trying to regain poise. When he started to speak again, his voice was cracking.

"We went back to the hotel and ordered some alcohol, because we wanted to solve the riddle so badly. But somehow we lost control and got totally drunk…and then we started fighting, at the beginning only with words, but after a while we went outside, and then…" His voice broke.

But now Theo completely lost his balance.

_You know, I think you have hired someone to steal Evelyn._

He could hear his own voice, shouting at Adam.

_You are disgusting, Adam; you are a disgusting little liar._

No. Did this really happen? How could it come to that?! Theo started to shiver, because first all the pain and now these memories…this was just too much for him. Even if the shivering was hurting so much that he felt sick, he was not able to stop. He blanched. No. This was impossible. Please stop that already…I don't want this! he prayed, like a little child.

"Oh my God, Theo!" Adam said in panic. "Are you alright? Please, don't leave! I'm so sorry for everything I have done!" Now Adam seriously started to cry. Not loudly, but the tears were running down his face.

Now, everything in Theo's mind became surreal. Suddenly he did not feel anything. He was just about to look around and watch everything, totally objective, without thinking about this awful story.

Adam was crying desperately, the suffering from his bad conscience on his face. But now Theo realized how much beaten up Adam looked, too. His hair was a mess, his face was a whiter shade of pale and he looked really shit in general.

Now…this means that I was not inculpable, too. But all the stuff that I've said…

Now the emotions returned, and Theo felt this cold, slowly crippling panic again. His heart skipped a beat.

"But…how did this ever happen, Adam?" he said, petrified.

"I don't know, Theo!" Adam cried. "I just can't imagine that this was what actually happened, and I feel so sorry that I can't find the words to say! Theo, I'm so sorry…" he had to stop, because the tears drowned his voice.

Theo took a deep breath, trying to ignore the pain in his chest. Then he said, with a fearful, empty voice:

"What did happen? Tell me, Adam."

Adam sobbed quietly. Then he tried his best to get his balance back:

"So, we were on the street in the pouring rain, late at night. We were screaming at each other like mad ones, some things that I wish I could forget…but it's impossible…" He was endangered to start crying again, his eyes were glistening from tears.

"I know what we have said", Theo said with his horrific, empty voice, and with an empty look, too. Adam had never seen so completely no emotions like now.

"And suddenly you couldn't hold yourself back and punched me, and then I somehow lost control…" He stopped, looking into the endless nothing. Then he got his voice back.

"You were way more drunk than I was, and not able to defend yourself, I pushed you away from me and you fell on the ground, and when you just got back on your feet I beat you on the ground again…I was totally out of my mind. And then…when you were lying on the ground…"

Now he broke out into tears again, and above Adam's desperate sobbing, Theo's memories slowly went into the correct order. How he just punched Adam brutally, totally drunk and not able to think what he was doing. Then how Adam hit back and how he was so much stronger than Theo in this fight…How indignity burned in Theo 's heart as he tried to get rid all of his anger with beating Adam down, but this one beat Theo on the ground.

With this memories coming back, Theo felt so sick that he was afraid that he had to pass away again. He could hardly breathe; his heart was burning from this awful panic.

"Oh Adam", he whispered.

"And then…when you were lying on the ground in the rain, completely beaten up and unable to defend yourself…I totally lost my mind and…"

Silence.

"Oh Theo, I can't say it. I've just hurt you again and again with this superior anger, and you became unconscious, and then I realized what I have done…" Adam sobbed, full of desperation.

"I've spent the whole night here, being afraid that you will have to die….I was so in panic, Theo, and now…"

Tears were running down his face, and he got seriously afflicted by his bad conscience and the memories of last night.

"I want to tell you, Theo, I want you to know, but…I just can't!" he sobbed. "It's just too horrible! Why can't we just forget it forever?!"

Theo tried to catch some of the fuzzy thoughts that were rushing through his mind; it was so hard to remember…he wanted to let everything go so badly. But now, when he wished for it the least, everything came back within seconds.

His anger on Adam and how he wanted him just to shut up, end it all there, in that night. But Adam was so much stronger; Theo remembered the abasement when he was lying on the ground in the rain, not able to defend himself. Being beaten to unconsciousness by his once best friend…

And now he remembered who had started all this, how he brutally had punched Adam, after shouting the most disgusting things at him. He, Theo, had been the one who had started all the insanity. He was ridden by guilt. But would he have beaten Adam nearly to death if he would have had the chance to?

He could not answer this question. Now, as he looked back to the last night and everything that had happened, everything seemed so strange, unreal.

Adam had stopped crying, but now and then there was a sob, a sound of deep sadness, as if he could not believe it, too.

"Adam, I know what you've done, I feel the pain of every single of your kicks. I don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive you, but I know that I am guilty, too. I was the one who started all this, if I had not freaked out like this, we would never be here, in this situation…I have to apologize, too…" Theo had to cough, and his chest was feeling as if it was about to explode from the pain, he seriously could not breath for a while.

"Oh my god, Theo …it's all my fault…what have I done to you?" Adam was frightened as he saw his friend like this, beaten up half dead, by himself. By the one who called himself a true friend?

"No…" Theo said with a hoarse voice. "It's enough for now. We have to keep up our work, no matter what happened. Our aim is to find Evelyn…"

"What? No, sure we can't! You can't just go outside at your condition!"

Okay, to convince Adam with words made no sense. So Theo clenched his teeth, tried to ban all the pain out of his mind, and got up. He almost fell down to his knees again, but somehow he managed it to stay on both feet.

"Theo …" Adam tried to get Theo back into the bed again, but this guy totally ignored that.

"Give me about two hours, and we'll keep up our work, Okay?"

"But…-"  
"In two hours at your room, okay?"

Adam nodded resigned before leaving the room, full of solicitude about his friend.

Not only death was a bitch, life was, too. Theo had to fight for every step and barely managed it into the bathroom. He was prepared for the look into the mirror, but the shock was massive. There were no words for it. His shirt was completely ragged and dirty, stains of blood all over it. His face was also marked with some blood and some marks, and his left eye was completely black, he could not even open it.

Okay, this was horrifying.

It took him more than one hour and endless pain to remove all the dirt and blood, but the countless marks all over his body stayed.

After changing clothes he looked into the mirror again. He still looked completely fucked up, with the black eye and everything. But at least he had acceptable clothes, and after doing his usual hair styling…it still looked horrible.

Additional to the injuries outside, there was also the headache, the sickness and this feeling that took his breath away. Every single breath hurt and he had difficulties to move. He wondered what was actually wrong and hoped that he would not end in the hospital on the next day.

Slowly he limped to the door, and then to Adam's room. He knocked on the door, and just a few seconds later Adam opened.

"Gosh, I'm so glad that you are still alive, Theo …come in….-"

"Show me the note" was the only thing that Theo said. Adam handed him the piece of paper, and Theo stared at it for a long time, trying to understand these words.

"Man, I bet it's just a train station or some crap like this" he said angrily.

Adam gazed at him.

"Theo, you are a genius!"

Chapter VII: Miracle

"So, this is the place where we'll find her?" Theo said with a weary voice.

"I don't know…" Adam looked around, hoping there would be a big blinking arrow with the word 'Evelyn' on it. But of course, there were no Christmas lights when they needed some. This wasn't Tumblr.

It was early afternoon now, people were hurrying to all directions, some quickly, some slowly; but everyone seemed to have a certain destination, so Adam did not dare to just ask someone. He did not even know what he should ask. And anyway, if it came to asking (especially ladies), Theo was just the better man to get some results.

"Where do you think we could find a hint?" Adam asked, because he had grown tired of agonizing about this story all the time. There was the moment when he just did not want to keep up this journey. But anyway, he knew he had to. It was for Theo; because Adam knew that his friend would not survive this madness if it would not end with success. And he could never forget what had happened yesterday. He would do anything to make Theo feel better now.

"I don't know…" Theo had no motivation, either; what was actually quite distressing, because this Pogo Stick was somehow the only reason why he did not jump I front of a train. But he did not do anything to help Adam with this shit. And Adam was feeling so helpless, the whole pressure was down on him, he could not manage it alone…

"Hey there, I won't do this for you on my own, okay? You fucked it up – you'll get it right again, okay?!" But with these words he remembered that he was not unblamable for Theo's lack of enthusiasm, and quickly his bad conscience came back. It got only worse when Theo looked into Adam's eyes with this hollow expression (and the black eye) and said:

"I know…somehow I fuck up everything. I should end it before another person than me has to experience my talent…" slowly he turned around and looked at the stairs up to the platforms.

"Maybe there?"

Adam did not get the context. Did he mean they should look for Evelyn there or did he talk about ending his…-? No, sure not. At least he hoped so. Then Adams own life would not make sense at all, too…

And then he noticed that somehow no one noticed them. Sure, they had not have a million of fangirls everywhere, but from time to time they got recognized; at least some people stared at them when they were in big cities on the streets. And Cologne was quite big.

Then he got it. Because as long as Theo was really Theo, they both looked and appeared like they should – as Hurts). But as soon as it was impossible to recognize Theo as himself, Adam quite disappeared, too.

Dude, this was not a very nice feeling. Adam felt unloved somehow. By Theo anyway, and by the whole mankind, too. As if he would not be somehow important?!

That no one looked at his friend anymore was nothing to wonder about. He seemed like the typical guy who had got involved into a street fight. A really bad street fight, actually. Adam still tried to convince Theo to go to hospital, but it was not easy to talk to the other one. He always did what he wanted to do, no matter how long Adam was prating at him. What Theo did not want to hear, somehow seemed to be unspoken, there was no help.

But now Theo was no help in any way. He just stood there with this now-do-this-for-me-look, and Adam sighed. Okay, he thought, I'll make it. We'll make it.

"So we'll start right here and we'll search the whole train station systematically. If we won't have found a hint then, we will know that we're on the wrong track. Okay?"

He looked at Theo, waited for him to approve.

"Yeah, we have no choice…I think…" Theo said, hesitant. Then he followed Adam, who had already gone forward a couple of meters, looking for a hint.

But the problem was that he had no idea what the hint should look like. Not the least idea. And the train station was not very small, to say the least. It could be a train sign as well as a little note stuck somewhere to the rail tracks.

To sum up everything: Their chances to find Evelyn were depressing low.

Looking for help, he turned around to ask Theo. But this guy hat disappeared. What the heck…? Adam tried not to panic.

Calm down, he thought. Theo could not have gotten very far…Adam gave his best to spot the lost one in the crowd. He wouldn't have gone to-…

No.

Adam did not finish this thought. And then he spotted Theo in the crowd, looking around, confused. Now it was the game with babysitting again.

"Hey, are you coming?" Adam asked, but he got no response. "Theo?" Softly he touched Theo's shoulder. Confused the other one turned around.

"What did you say?" It really seemed like he did not get anything.

"Come on…we have to go now" careful Adam placed his hand around Theo 's shoulder and wanted to lead him to the right direction; but instantly let loose as he felt how Theo shivered from pain.

"Oh no, I'm so sorry…!"

But suddenly Theo slowly sank down to the ground and stayed there, leaned to a column.

"Shit. What's wrong?" Adam squat down next to Theo, afraid that the whole story from yesterday night got really serious now. "Should I go and get help? Theo, come on, say something-"

"Stop it" Theo suddenly said with a weak voice. "Just give me a few seconds…"

Adam could hear the agony in Theo's voice. Now he knew that something was truly wrong; he was not used to see Theo like this. The other one had always gotten into some drunk fights and there have already been times it had not have end very well and Adam had to deal with some serious shit Theo had gotten in. But Theo had always this YOLO-attitude and he never really cared about what happened.

Well, actually he did care. But no matter what happened, Theo could never have been discouraged. Not only in fighting stuff that brought him into bad situations. It was the same thing in hard times in the other way. Adam had the habit to always look at the dark side of things and he gave up hope very quickly. Together they had gone through very hard times and Adam had given up hope now and again. But Theo always stood straight, no matter what happened. He could see hope in every situation; and no matter how fucked up he was, Theo had the ability to share this hope with everyone.

In fact, Theo was the bravest person Adam knew. He had no idea how his life would have turned if Theo had not been there for him. Only now he noticed: It had not always been himself being there for Theo …the other one had done so much for Adam, too. He had no idea where he would have been now if he had not spent these hard years with Theo. Truly concerned he looked down at his friend, who sat on the ground, eyes closed and breathing heavily.

"Listen, Theo, I can go and get help for you any time. Trust me; it would be the best for you…"

"It's just…I can't go on anymore" Theo said tired.

This was exactly what Adam thought, too. Theo was on an extremely high dose of painkillers, otherwise he would not have managed it to get here to look for Evelyn. Even if the overdose had contributed something to Theo's confused condition, Adam did not have to own any expertise to know that his friend had at least a concussion; Theo could barely remember things he had said a little while ago. In addition to that, there was the fact that he could see the serious pain whenever Theo tried to move. He would end in hospital, Adam was sure about that. And being on an overdose of painkillers constantly could not be very healthy, too.

He just wanted to convince Theo that there was no point to keep up the search today, as he noticed that Theo had fallen asleep.

Okay, now you have to think….Adam desperately looked for the right decision he could make. Go and get help for Theo? Maybe this guy would survive this story, yeah, but Adam was not so sure about that. Even if Theo did, he was no help in the adventure of the search for Evelyn, and if they did not find her, it was sure that Theo would NOT survive it. The most important thing was to let him recover as fast as quickly, so they could keep up their search on an effective way. But having Theo constantly on an overdose was not the right way to solve this problem, Adam noticed now. The only thing he could do now was letting Theo sleep here (he did not want to carry him back to the hotel, then people surely would stare at them) and search on his own.

But could he leave Theo just on the floor like that? Yeah, it had to be like this. But what if he woke up and did not remember anything?

Quickly Adam took a pen out his pocket and started to write on Theo's arm, carefully and slowly not to wake him up. But Theo was in such a deep sleep that even the smell of Whiskey could not have woken him up.

Well…no, Adam was not sure about this. Right! He thought. Take his money with you; otherwise he'll get dumb ideas if he wakes up.

Okay, that should be enough, Adam thought as he looked at the letters on Theo's arm.

"_brb, wait here. love, Adam xoxo_"

Perfect. Now the looking-in-Theo's-pockets-for-money-part. It was really aweso…-awkward this time, Adam was truly embarrassed and tried his best to do it on a way that no one could get wrong ideas about what he was doing right now. He felt how he blushed deeply.

What the..? 200€? Seriously? Okay, good Whiskey was not cheap, but Theo …Why?!

But now every potential danger was removed, and Adam could keep on the search for Evelyn without concern about his friend who really had a true talent to fuck up everything.

He decided to do it systematically. But this would take a damn lot of time.

And Adam took this time, and he searched. For hours. Only to search the hallway, without the actually rail tracks, felt like an eternity. And as he looked at the clock at the wall he noticed that it actually had been an eternity as well.

And all the looking-in-every-corner-thing had not lead to any success. Five hours had passed by and there still was not any track to follow.

This thing alone was frustrating enough. But the main problem was:

How could he explain this to Theo? Or the better question: Should he tell Theo at all?

Adam sighed and slowly walked through the hallway, hoping for a miracle to happen. But there was no winged Evelyn flying into his arms, and with absolutely no success he returned to Theo.

A lot of worries fell from Adam's heart as he saw Theo still sitting there, eyes closed. But he was not quite sure if the other one was still asleep.

Then, as soon as Adam approached, Theo opened his eyes.

"There you are" he said.

Now Adam had to come out with the news. And this was very hard for him, because he saw the hope glowing in Theo's faint eyes (so this time Theo remembered something, a good sign). But before the other one could ask, Adam just told him the truth:

"Nothing."

Theo did not say anything. He just sat there and stared at his own knees.

I have to do something now, Adam thought. Really quickly.

"But I did not search at the actual tracks, so maybe there…"

Theo sighed lightly, careful not to move too much.

"To be honest, Adam, I don't really see the point in the whole thing. Evelyn is not here. She is not anywhere."

"You must not say that! She has to be anywhere, and no matter where this place is, we'll find it. Trust me…" But he did not sound very convinced, and Theo was aware of that. But he was too tired to disagree now.

"Come on, now" Adam said and pulled Theo carefully back onto his feet and hold him tight on his arm, so he could not pay the ground another visit.

The letters were still there, Adam noticed.

And Theo noticed how Adam looked at the writing.

"Yeah, thanks for the beautiful words" he said with an unimpressed voice.

"But I was afraid that you'd get lost if you woke up. Did you even forget that you forget everything now?"

Theo looked a bit confused.

"Yeah, maybe…whatever, don't you think that formulation is a bit…I don't know…"

"Yeah?" Adam asked, a bit enraged. "Did you wanna say what's wrong with that?"

"What?" Theo was surprised about Adam's sudden anger. "Everything's fine…"

"Sure…" Adam's voice sounded a bit hurt.

But no matter, he and Theo went on with their search; they thought it was the best thing to start at track 1.

But before preparing for another disappointment, the stairs were the bigger problem; and it ended up as another "what-are-these-guys-just-doing-scene".

But the disappointment came quickly, too. Several trains passed by, and because they had no idea where to look, they did not find anything.

"Okay, this was only the first one…there are many left…." Adams motivation did not sound very authentically; and Theo kept his hollow glance. But he seemed to be afraid of the stairs.

The same story happened at track 2, and the third one was not better, either.

Even Adam was close to breaking out in tears, and Theo was just complete quiet. He had not say anything on their whole search, and he stayed quiet now.

But as Adam looked him, he noticed that Theo looked a bit sick.

"Everything okay?" he asked, although he knew that this question was stupid. It was impossible not to notice that nothing was okay.

Theo leaned against the wall.

"It's just…" he started, and now Adam could hear that Theo was not a tiny bit as calm as he seemed to be. His words were fast and his voice full of panic, he breathed quickly. "I…I can't deal with it anymore…I'm so afraid…" Now he was truly in panic, Adam had to do something.

"Theo, calm down" he said loudly, so the other one had to notice him. "Calm down, shut up and breathe slowly…don't panic. This is not the right solution, trust me. You have to calm down, and then you can concentrate better…"

But the panic was still in Theo's eyes.

"It's so hot in here, Adam…" Theo said, looking for a way to get out.

Damn, this had to be a side effect of the overdose. Actually it was not very hot in here, but Theo was sweating and still in panic.

"Hey, listen to me" Adam said as he led Theo to a bench and managed him to sit down. "Theo, my friend…" he said gently "everything is fine." He forced Theo to look into his eyes. "Nothing is worse than it was before, do you get that? Maybe it's not better, but it did not get worse. Our chance is still at the same height as before. Stay strong, we will find her, trust me!"

Theo looked at him. It seemed like he had calmed down a bit, his breath was going normally now.

"Yeah, maybe you're right…." He said, hesitating. But now there was this sad tone in his voice again, what broke Adam's heart. Then he got an idea. It had worked always on little kids, so it could not be wrong to try it in this situation.

"Hey, what about an ice now? Should I buy us one?" he asked.

Theo needed some seconds to get it. Then he nodded slowly, but he did not say anything.

"Okay, just stay here, I'll go and get us something", Adam said and tried to look optimistic as he left Theo for buying them an ice. After the search in Theo's pockets he had enough money.

Soon after, he returned to Theo, bringing two of the big red ices with the chewing gum stick, which were actually called 'Bum-Bum' here. Red as a heart in love, Adam thought.

A little smile appeared on Theo's face as Adam gave the ice to him, and soon after, Theo was quite happy again.

"Thanks" he said, smiling, and Adam blushed a bit. Theo could be so adorable sometimes, especially while eating a big red ice and looking happily like a little child.

"Okay, now come on" Adam said "we came here with a purpose." And this time, Theo followed him without any trouble, the ice still in his hands.

Standing at track 4, they looked around, eating their ice. Okay, they did not have gotten any further, but somehow they were more optimistic now.

"Let's finish the ice before we keep on searching", Adam suggested.

"Hmhmmm…" Theo nodded and they sat down, watching the people passing by, eating their ice.

"Adam?" Theo asked suddenly.

"Yeah…?" Adam answered, looking at Theo. The sun set, it was becoming darker. Now he felt the stress of the last days very clearly, but he did not care. It were these little moments that made him feel the importance of life, and also the importance of their relationship. They both did not match perfectly together, but they understood each other, and they were there for each other.

"I just thought…in the case that we won't find Evelyn quickly…" Theo started, and his voice did not even sound sadly or depressed, "there is no point in being down and in panic…even if I don't have Evelyn for a while, I'm not alone at all…" He looked at Adam, and although he finally did not say it, Adam understood what Theo meant. Embarrassed he looked down.

"You will be there for me, right?" He still did not change the direction of his look. Now Adam looked up again.

"Yes, I will. I promise."

And then, without any other words, both just sat there, eating their ice, watching the sun setting. Some trains passed buy, but Adam did not care. This moment was the redress for the hard time they have had the last week.

But then, suddenly something destroyed the quiet happiness. Theo jumped straight onto his feat, gazing at a train passing by.

"Adam!" he said, breathlessly. "Tell me that I'm right…we have found it!"

Now Adam's attention was caught, too, and he took a closer look into the darkness. And then he saw it.

On the train that was slowly passing by was graffiti writing. In big and clear letters it said:

'INTIMISSIMI'.

This would not have been something special if there had not been a little graffiti painting next to it.

First, he did not recognize what it should be. But then he saw it:

It was the little black painting of a Pogo Stick.

Chapter VIII: Blood, Tears & Gold

"Are you sure that you're prepared for this?" Theo asked, grinning. He kind of looked a bit amused.

"Yes, Theo, I think that I can handle it" Adam said with sarcastic drama in his voice.

But it was totally fine. Since yesterday evening at the train station, something had changed. Theo was so much more optimistic, he had gained a little bit of the old Theo back.

After spotting the hint on the train, and being so much unburdened, happily they had gotten back to the hotel.

And this time there had been no drinking-into-coma-from-happiness-or-depressions-o r-all-the-other-emotions-in-between. Adam still did not get how that had been possible, but they simply returned to the hotel and then they just stayed at Adam's room, doing what they should have done last evening, too, instead of fighting each other to death. They have talked about everything and nothing, about their success at the story, about Evelyn and surely about what would happen tomorrow.

And only then they had checked what an 'Intimissimi' actually was. And it got seriously awkward this time.

It was a goddamn shop for lingerie?!

"Are they fucking kidding me?" Adam had said. But Theo just had started grinning.

"I think it's getting hot now" he had said, lifting his left eyebrow as he did sometimes when he liked an imagination very much. And actually, this pun had been excellent.

But they had not any time to start getting weird imaginations about what would happen tomorrow. Adam could convince Theo to go to bed early, wanting his beloved friend to feel at least a bit better the next day. He still worried about him. Maybe his depressions got better (who knew how long this would stay?) but his physical condition was still miserable. It was a mess to get him out of his bed the next morning, Adam nearly had to become violent, and he would have let Theo sleep until the next week if the other one wanted to, but he just wanted to finish the story. They were so close to the end now!

So now they were standing in front of _Intimissimi _and both became quite nervous. Only because of Evelyn, of course. Hopefully the story would end here, today.

Gravely Adam looked at Theo, asking with his look. Both looked appropriate for the occasion, now wearing their usual look completely. Of course, Theo's black eye destroyed the image somehow, but the contrast to the nice clothes made him look kind of…hot, Adam thought. In their suits now, with the strictly backcombed hair, they looked like they should, and sometimes Adam noticed some people looking at them. But their whole look made it only more awkward as they entered the small shop.

Adam felt so much uncomfortable. He imagined everyone staring at them. Actually, there were a few guys in the shop, but all of them were stuck on their girlfriends. And Adam knew how he and Theo were looking like sometimes. He even got more nervous. Two guys wearing suits entering a shop for lingerie…hell, NO. Of course this was looking obviously.

"Hey, everything okay?" Theo asked, amused.

"Don't grin like a mad one…" Adam whispered. "You know what other people think of us…" angrily and nervous he carefully looked around. Maybe it was just his fantasy, but everyone stared at them.

"No, this is the completely wrong way to think" Theo said. "You have to act as if it was completely naturally for us to be here. Just look around as if you are looking for something special…like this beautiful thing here…" Theo picked up an oversize bra and now he really was in trouble to hide his amusement.

"I mean…what the fuck IS this stuff?!" Adam hissed and looked at some lightly rosé-colored pieces of fabric, of which he could never imagine the function.

"This one?" Theo asked coolly. "Yeah, I liked that one on my Ex-Girlfriend."

What the heck?! Adam thought astonished. Which girl is he talking about? Now his mental cinema began to show a lot of pictures he just did not need right now.

"This one is nice, too…do you remember that one? Or is it making you…_blind_?" Theo waved with a white garter in front of Adam's face. "I'm sure you'll still know this, don't you?"

"Just STOP it already!" Adam mumbled into the direction of a long row of bras and panties. "Your relationship with that one was a bit deeper than mine, I think. And by the way, we came here with a purpose, remember that?"

Now Theo got serious again, too.

"Yeah, let's look for the kidnappers…" He looked around. "But how do kidnappers look like?"

Looking around in the store, both of them searched for potential kidnappers. Would it be the red haired woman, suspiciously regarding a set of lace bras? Or the blond woman standing next to the oversize panties? But both women looked as if they were here for another purpose than bringing back a kidnapped Pogo Stick.

Adam had nearly given up hope again – as always - when Theo spotted a young woman standing near the changing area. She was dressed in a stylish black outfit and her very short hair was of a dark brown, too. What Adam noticed now, she did not look at the nearby products, and her eyes were just facing the front door, where both men were standing.

"Adam…Adam, look over there" Theo whispered. "I think the one over there could be the kidnapper…Look at the way she looks at us." There was an exited but also an angry tone in Theo's voice. But he stayed surprisingly calm for the importance of this moment. Anyway, air was under high voltage.

Adam turned around to reply something, but Theo was already gone, walking straight over to the girl at the changing area, just like this. Quickly Adam followed him; he did not want the slightly emotional damaged man to cause any trouble, again.

As he finally reached the two, they were only talking, no signs of possible fistfights or murder. The two were just talking…Theo in his broken German (Adam could not help but find it kind of cute, even though he did not understand anything) and the girl replied in perfect English; though this did not make any sense when Theo refused switching to English, too.

"Excuse me, hast du Evelyn?" Theo was asking quite politely when Adam came close enough to hear them.

"It might be that I know who you are talking about, and where she is I might know, too."

Damn, even her spoken responses were just like the riddles she had left them on notes. Of course only if she really was the kidnapper.

"Sag, wo sie ist!"

Adam still did not understand a thing, but somehow Theo reminded him of a child that wanted his toy back. Well, their situation was quite similar to that, so it was no wonder that Adam had to think of his little nephew he had babysat so often.

"What about going outside? People are starting to stare at us, and I can assure that your precious Evelyn is not in this building" the woman in black suggested, completely calm.

After changing one look, Theo and Adam agreed and followed the woman outside without any words and Adam got more and more nervous, but as soon as they had left the store, suddenly something in Theo changed. There was this endless anger and hate in his look again. He grabbed the girl by her hands and brutally pushed her against the wall.

"Wo ist sie?" he whispered, quietly, but sounding so dangerous it sent chills down Adam's spine. But there was no sign of panic in her eyes, she remained perfectly still.

"If you release me, I could show you where she is. But we wouldn't get much further if we just stayed here, wouldn't we?"

Adam was amazed by the way she dealt with Theo's temper, much better than he could ever do it. There was this calm and somehow cold aura coming from her, and it even worked. Theo stepped back, releasing her wrists instantly, and waiting for her to show him the way to Evelyn. The wild expression in his look slowly faded away.

After rubbing her wrists, she did not say anything and started walking towards a nearby parking lot and then into the direction of a black Van. It was just the kind of car of you would think that a kidnapper would have.

When they reached the car, the girl knocked on the back door and a second woman stepped outside. This one was also dressed in black, but her hair was in a messy blond ponytail. She handed the dark haired girl something that was wrapped in a woolen blanket and then got back into the van without saying a word. Everything was getting so mysterious, Adam felt somehow intimissimi - no, intimidated - by the calculating quiet look of the strange girl.

As soon as the car's doors closed, Theo jumped at the girl and pulled the packet against his chest. "Evelyn, oh meine süße Evelyn…was haben sie dir angetan?" he whispered, nearly crying. This was one of the most emotional moments Adam had ever seen. He could just stay still and watching this touching reunion. And slowly the jealousy started to sneak into his heart.

"Nothing. She was in perfect care while she was with me, I underwrite that", the woman answered. "I found her in the concert hall the morning after you two had left, and I wanted to make the whole getting-her-back-story a little bit more interesting for me and for you both, too… I didn't know it would escalate like that. I can only say that I'm sorry for any trouble that I may have caused."

She looked quite poorly as she tried to explain the story from her point of view. Adam was not sure if she really felt like that or if she was just a damn good actress, but Theo somehow seemed to believe her straight without having to think about the story, and he did not make any sign of wanting to punch her again or getting violent in any way. Now he looked more like…interested at her, Evelyn still in his hands. However, the overflowing emotions seemed to have been wept out instantly. Just like this!

But what Theo did next, truly surprised Adam, anyway.

"So, mysterious girl in black…" Theo still looked straight at her, without any signs of hate and anger. Happiness about Evelyn was not there, too. It was kind of weird…then Theo continued:

"I have a suggestion. How about you and I going to get a drink together, celebrating the lucky return of Evelyn or so…we can talk about your motivation for this crime then, in a more unwound way. What about that?" he offered the girl. Theo, seriously? Five minutes ago you were still angry as shit, five hours ago you were in panic and the whole five days before that you fucked up your life enough for the rest of it, only because of Evelyn. And now this?! Oh, and by the way, I'm still here, too, Adam thought.

But the girl agreed immediately, and after telling the second woman that they would be gone, the two and Evelyn started walking away, and Adam was left alone in the parking lot.

Okay, this was truly weird. Maybe the girl was a fairy or so? She could have put a spell on Theo without them noticing. Otherwise Adam could not explain the way this had turned out. But anyway, he decided it would be the best to go back to the hotel and have a relaxing evening. This was the only thing he could do, and he truly needed a bit time to chill out after all this stress. Sure, Theo had ended up with way more physical injuries after the whole story had been finished, but Adam had been the one who had always have to stay calm and to do not do the wrong things. So he quite enjoyed the day alone, without a half-dead Theo to take care of. Oh yeah, peace and silence, how he loved that!

He was already half asleep when suddenly his phone rang. Oh no…now everything is starting again! He nearly started crying when he recognized Theo's number on the screen. But there was no help, he answered the call.

"Adam?" he heard a slurred voice shouting between loud background noises.

"Adam, can you please come and pick me up? I can't find the hotel…"

Of course it was Theo, and now he sounded really drunk again, and this meant that Adam's time of chilling and peace and silence was over and this really broke his heart, and then Adam also heard a female voice giggling in the background. So much about a "relaxing evening", Adam thought desperately, but then he asked:

"Alright, where are you?" He just hoped Theo would remember the club he went to. There had been nights when Adam had to search through whole London for a drunken singer because Theo just could not find out where he was. Luckily Theo, or more likely his female companion, knew the address of the nightclub they were right now, and so Adam got on his way to pick a drunken Theo and probably another dark-haired future one-night stand of him, too.

Everything was just as it used to be before Evelyn vanished.

Adam sighed; he wished that just for one night he could sleep without having to get up in the middle of the night because Theo wanted something from him, or because he had to worry about the already mentioned man.

And then, he noticed how empty he felt now.

Sure, it had been very exhausting to take care for his fucked up friend all the time, and there had been some moments that Adam really wanted to forget, but…now he had no idea how their life should go on. If everything would be like before, he would not be able to handle this. He had got used to the kind their life had been the last week, and somehow he wished that it would have gone on like this forever. Without Evelyn or this mysterious girl in black, who had so much more control over Theo than he had.

Chapter IX: Cupid

Please be at least still alive, Adam thought at he went out of the cap at nearly 4am, in the middle of Cologne. It was darker as the darkest clothes he had in his closet at home, he barely could see anything.

But then, about one hundred meters away, there were the lights of night-time life, and he was sure that he would find Theo there.

In fact, he did not have anything except the street name, and this street started here and went on along a not so small number of clubs and other buildings with suspect functions, but anyway…

He sighed. Come on, he thought, let's get over this as quick as possible. After he paid the money for the cab, he started to slowly walk towards the lights, humming the melody of a new song they started working at, and he was fucking tired and just wanted to sleep, so he walked faster.

At the first meters he met nobody, then a group of drunken people. Gladly he could not spot Theo there, so maybe he listened to Adam's advice and stayed outside where he had been the moment he had called Adam.

Passing by the first buildings, Adam looked very close at the pavement before, but he could not spot his lost friend, neither could he see the mysterious black fairy girl. In general, he did not meet a lot of people, it was quite quiet here.

But as he walked on, he heard noise growing louder. People laughing or screaming at each other, clanging of bottles. Blue and green light as he approached.

And only way later he could see where the noise was coming from. There was a little crowd in front of a club, and Adam started to beg that it was not what it looked like. But it was.

There was a wild street fight going on, drunken people screaming and other people watching an laughing.

Shit, Theo, no…don't let them kill you!

He started to run towards the crowd, hoping that Theo was still alive; and then he dove straight into the crowd around the fighting guys, only wanting to save his beloved friend.

Just as he was just expecting getting involved into a hard fistfight, he could stop in the last moment. There was no Theo!

At first, Adam was just endlessly happy, because the fact that Theo had been no one of the fighters meant that he probably was still alive

But then the thought that he still had no idea where Theo was entered his mind again, and quickly he said sorry for his heroic mistake and vanished, looking desperately for his beloved friend.

And then he saw him. Or better, _them_.

And it hurt Adam so much to see them like this. He just stood still there and watched them. And then, slowly, the pain in his heart began to melt away.

They looked so happily together. And Theo was alright, he was not dying or anything.

He just sat there on the pavement next to Evelyn, still in the same look that he had as the left this morning (except the fact that his hair was a bit messy, it was looking so cute), a half-empty bottle of Whiskey in his hands. And he was laughing.

Not the completely drunk laugh of someone who could not control himself. Neither a sad or a hysterical laugh. No, he was just laughing from happiness, his eyes were glowing and Adam could see that this were real feelings, not acted.

And then there was the mysterious girl in black next to Theo. Although she looked a bit drunken, too, and she seemed very happy as well; she just looked as calm as the first time they have met.

It was the same thing with her as with Theo: Still the same look, only a bit messed up, and the happiness in her eyes, too. But it was more the quiet happiness, she was just smiling, not saying anything.

And then Theo looked down at her, saying something, laughing again. She just looked into the distance, and then her smile left to offer place for a somehow longing, melancholic look, as if she knew something that no other person ever would know. But then she shook her head lightly, and her smile came back, as she leaned her head against Theo's shoulder and closed her eyes.

Exactly this was the reason why the heartbroken feeling had left Adam's mind. This was not the typical behavior of a potential one-night stand relationship. They were not making out, they did not even kiss.

Sure, he could not remember having ever seen Theo that happy, and there was something between him and the girl. But it was not what he was used to. So the little flames of the old hope for certain chances kept burning in his heart.

Slowly he walked towards the couple, unsure if he really should destroy this moment. A few meters away from then he stopped, not able to make a decision, went on, not sure if he should talk to them.

"Hey, Theo …"

But then the decision was made for him. Suddenly he felt a hard hit into his back, and fell onto his knees.

"Ouch!" he felt the asphalt scraping on the skin of his hands. Shorttaken he shook his head, before standing up again and looking for the offender.

And then he saw her. A small young blond woman sat behind him, holding her head and looking a bit lost. Then she noticed what had happened.

"Oh, I'm so sorry…" she still sounded a bit puzzled, and only then she looked at Adam for the first time.

Both realized at the same moment.

Her black clothes. The blond hair. The messy ponytail…

It was the companion of the kidnapper!

She also looked at Adam with big eyes, seemed to have recognized him.

"You…I didn't want to….I'm sorry…" she stuttered.

Adam did not know what to say, too, he just had not expected her here. But then he did the only right thing in this situation.

"May I help you up?" he asked, offering his hand to her. She hesitated, but then she took his hand and he pulled her up.

"Thanks…" She still seemed very confused, now more than ever before.

"And now may I ask what you are doing here?" Now Adam had found his voice back completely.

She paid a look to the couple, who did not seem as they had noticed Adam and the girl.

"Don't mind me; I just wanted to pick her up…"

Really? Same story with them?

"Ah, I see…" Adam said. "Actually, I came here to pick him up…"

Surprised the girl looked up to him (even standing instead of sitting on the ground, she was way smaller than him).

"Somehow I get afraid that I won't have much success this time…" she said with an unhappy side view in direction of the couple.

Now Adam looked to them again, too. Obviously they had forgotten about the world around of them. Sitting in the same position as before, Theo's jacket was around the girl's shoulders no, and the meanwhile complete empty bottle of Whiskey had moved to her hand, too. Her eyes were still closed, and just as to prove that she had fallen asleep on Theo's shoulder; the bottle fell from her hand to the ground, breaking into thousands of tiny pieces of glass.

But Theo was not really shocked from the sudden loud noise. He looked at the ground, and then he looked at the girl for a while. Finally, he looked at Adam and the other girl.

"Hey there!" he said, before he closed his eyes as well and fell asleep, leaned against the wall of a house.

"Well…you've talked about no success _this time, _so I guess you have some experience with that?"  
She sighed. "Yes, unfortunately I do. She does this very often" she said, pointing at the girl with the dark hair.

Adam had trouble with imagining that, but maybe…if you just looked at Theo, without ever talking to him, you would never get the idea that he could be such a fucked up man, too.

"I have to do this with Theo all the time, too…" Adam said resigned. "For years now…"

They looked at each other.

"Okay, let's just do it" the girl said. And then she walked over to the couple.

"Hey, Grace…" she said carefully, not causing any reaction. Also, Adam kneeled next to Theo.

"Dude, you've called me and I came, so wake up." But there was not much reaction; too, Theo just opened his eyes for a second before passing away again.

"There's no help, I think" the girl said. "Grace, come on…" carefully she dragged Grace (this was her name…okay) away from Theo, who paid his whole attention to her instantly. Adam took this chance.

"Now, are you coming? We can leave now."

"But…what about them…?" Theo asked confused and a little unhappy. It was cute. The girl looked up.

"Yeah, he's right…I mean, what are you doing with him?" she asked Adam.

"I guess I'll just take him to the hotel, and…wait…no. There's no point. We don't have to do anything anymore now, we are free…"

The girl looked at him, interested.

"Do you have a car?" she just asked, while managing the half-sleeping Grace to stand up, clutching on the girl's arm.

"No…why asking?"

"Oh Adam, you're so stupid" Theo said, unstable standing up, being grabbed and saved from falling on the ground again by Adam. "It's obvious: We'll go on a road trip together!"

This one woke Grace a bit up, too. She looked at her female companion and asked, sounding not a little bit drunk:

"Do you think this is realizable?"

Adam and the girl looked at each other. What was happening right now?

"Well…we have the Van; there is enough room for the four of us, but…"

"Yeah, but what?" Adam asked now. He did not have to think about the suggestion; he had already made a decision.

"I don't know…it's just a bit weird, I mean, we've spent so much time alone and we don't even know you two. And by the way, you can blame Grace for maybe the worst week of your life, I don't know if it worked out with all the four of us together…"

No, this was not a motivation.

"Why? You can see how happy Grace and Theo are together, just look at them…" Theo stood there, Evelyn in one hand; with the other hand he was holding Grace's hand. "And I have not the littlest problem with you, too…and I'm sure you'll learn to stand Theo, believe me. You get used to that."

The girl sighed.

"Okay" she said. "But aren't you two famous? I mean, you have to work, too, don't you?"

Adam looked into her eyes. "There are more important things than work. We will find the time for that later; and honestly, I think Theo has to recover from the whole story anyway".

She seemed like she was thinking about possible ways how the story could end up. But then she made a decision.

"Just help me to get these two to the van, okay?"

"Yeah, sure, I'm pretty good at this story" Adam said and laughed. And then it was getting awkward again. But it was the kind of awkward that had been going on the whole past week; the kind of awkward that Adam got used to and that he liked. He grabbed Theo's arm and carefully lead him into the direction that the girl and Grace took, too. Oddly enough, the drunken couple was able to walk and there was no need to drag them over the street where the Van was parked. But both preferred to stay quiet.

As they reached the car - it was this typical VW Hippie-Van, only in black - both managed their friends to sit down on the ground.

"Let's put them into the back part of the van…" the blonde girl said and opened the doors. The car was very big and there was way enough space for the drunken ones. Actually, there were two seats in the front, and in the back part two rows opposite to each other, so they managed Theo to sit down on the left row and Grace on the right. Then Adam stowed Evelyn into the trunk, then he turned to the blond girl.

"Who is driving?" he asked.

"I can, it's no problem" she smiled and entered the car on the left side, so Adam sat down at the right side.

She started the motor.

"What's our destiny?" she asked. "Exile?"

Adam cogitated.

"I don't know" he said. But then he smiled. "Maybe Happiness?"


End file.
